The Lord is clear. Our Father values community. He establishes this by allowing us to “be called children of God.” He creates this community by clarifying “we are co-heirs with Christ.” God constantly builds a case for brothers and sisters in the Lord to invest in one another, worship with one another, and serve God with one another.

God continues to build His case that we must gather together. Our purpose in gathering together is to strengthen and embolden our faith, so as not to be influenced by the world, but the WORD-Jesus. Our purpose is to raise our voices and hearts together, in unity, to praise the only name by which mankind can be saved!

God challenged His community of believers by saying, “And let us consider how to stir up one anotherto love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging oneanother, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

What if we never gathered together? What if we didn’t have a place to gather? What if we wereisolated as Christians? If this was the reality, we would be easily duped by the world into being deceived and distracted from the Great and Almighty Lord, our God.

The house that God built offers believers, as well as those considering the claims of Christ a place to gather together in community with one another. The goal is to gain His understanding…a place to come and be encouraged…a place to spurn on one another as we love God, love others, and help others love God.

Yes, it truly is important to have a place to gather together; a place to encourage one another on our faith journey as a community of believers. God wants it this way. We are His body; the Head-Jesus.

Can we simply gather in homes and encourage one another? Yes. Do we have a bigger impact as we increase the number of believers that gather together? Yes. Let me be clear, First Baptist is and will always focus on building disciples. This is our mandate from Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20. The church building…God’s House…His facilities…His campus offers us a tool to help strengthen faith and encourage one another to the service of the Lord.

We have an opportunity to increase our impact for this community by following God into building a house together that is dedicated to the Lord for His service and use as He builds His kingdom through us-His servants.

If First Baptist will decide to build a new and improved building, we gain: 

A large house of worship for us to gather and praise His name 

A safe and exciting children’s space to invest in the generation coming behind us 

Wonderful rooms for people to gather to study His Word, encourage each other and offer accountable growth in Christ

God’s Words says, “Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God anddedicate it to Him… The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods (2 Chronicles 2:4-5a). We understand that God deserves the Glory in this world, which is expressed by His people. Therefore, we want to love God with our whole self, love others, and help others love God. Therefore, we want to offer a place for the whole community and surrounding towns to come and grow in this love of Christ.

I pray and hope His people will seek God’s face as we discern His will for our next steps as we move forward to prepare “to build a house in the name of the Lord.”

Our Building and Finance Committees have been, and will be, meeting to prepare a proposal for our church community to consider. We look to see you as in our monthly business meetings held on the second Wednesday of each month (February 8th).

God will surely give His children a peace and unified heart if this is His will for His church. For, this is the House that God built.